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"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." – Helen Keller

Ruined

I’m afraid that my 11 year-old has been ruined. I guess that it was inevitable, having lived outside of the U.S. for the past 5 years. After all, she was only 6 when we moved abroad.

Today we went to the Hazel International Food Market. One of the best things about Pretoria is all of the weekend food markets. Hazel Market is amazing!

Hazel Market has food stalls from just about everywhere: South Africa, the U.S., India, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, Thailand, Morocco, Mexico, Holland, Belgium, Canada and there is even a food stall from our beloved Jordan. And they are all AMAZING! There are also stalls with fresh produce, cheeses, ice cream, raw meat, spices, jams & honeys, juices & smoothies, pastries, coffee, tea, beer and of course, South African biltong; it really is a food lover’s paradise.

This morning we all had smoothies and cinnamon filled crepes. Then Noah had a bacon-wrapped bratwurst sandwich and barbecued ribs in a cup; Elizabeth had Indian curry and samosas, I had bean quesadillas with pico de gallo and guacamole, and Jason had some sort of German egg sandwich. We all left stuffed to the gills.

Sounds good, right? Well, here’s my concern:

Every time we have gone to the Hazel Market, Elizabeth has gone straight for the Indian food. And anytime she has a choice of food, she will pick Indian, Thai or Arab. Every Time! And she will never, ever pick Mexican!

It’s un-American not to ever choose Mexican!!!!! All Americans love Mexican food (well, ok, Tex-Mex). And it’s always hard to find decent Mexican food overseas. American ex-pats are always lamenting the lack of decent Mexican food. Listen in on just about any water cooler conversation between Americans and it is probably about Mexican food. And when we find even sub-par Mexican food, we gorge ourselves. We have to! I’m pretty sure it’s in our Constitution!

But somehow, my Elizabeth will always choose butter chicken over burritos, curry over chimichangas, and falafel over fajitas.